Improvement in rudders for vessels



J. C. MORTON. Rudder for Vessels.

- No. 205,972. Patented 1u| 16,1s7s.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. MORTON, OF EAST DEERING, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RUDDERS FOR VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 205,972, dated July 16,1878; application filed January 25, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. MORTON, of East Deering, in the county ofCumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Machine called a Safety-Tiller for Vessels Rudders,of which the following is a specification:

The invention relates to safety-tillers for the rudders of vessels.

The method hitherto used. to attach to a rudder the rudder-chains bywhich the rudder is worked when the ordinary steering ap-' paratus hasbecome unserviceable has been simply to insert into the crown or head ofthe rudder a simple bolt and ring, to which the rudder-chains wereattached. There has also been in use a slight improvement on the ringand bolt-that of placing on the head or crown of the rudder a clasp orbrace of iron, and through this clasp or brace was inserted a bolt ofiron, to which the rudder-chains were attached.

The objection to both these methods of attaching the rudder-chains, orto this way of turning the rudder, is that, the crown or head of therudder being its weakest part, it is, with the strain thus brought tobear upon it, likely to be split. In other words, by both the abovemethods the crown or head of the rudder is not strengthened, and theweakest part is placed under the greatest pressure and strain.

The object of my invention is to provide for the rudder of a vessel atiller to which the rudder-chains may be attached, and which may be usedto work the rudder when the ordinary steering apparatus isunserviceable.

The invention consists in making the tiller proper all of one piece ofmaterial.

The invention also consists in the manner or mode of attaching thesafety-tiller to the head or crown of the rudder, as follows: The arms 0and O are mortised into the head of the rudder, so that the outsidesurfaces of the said arms are in a plane level with the sides of therudder. In other words, the said arms are made in any particular case sothat the distance between their outside surfaces is just the thicknessof the rudder. Thus the arms form always a band or clasp to the rudder.The bolts E and E pass through the head of the rudder, and are rivetedon the outside of the braces, and simply hold the said arms and bracesfirmly in place, and are not subject to much or any strain or pressure.This is an object of great importance to be attained, as it is desirablenot to allow the strain or pressure to be centered at one point, but tospread it out over as much space as possible, as by so doing thetendency of the rudder to be split decreases. By attaching the tiller inthe above mode the pressure is made to come on the full length of thearms 0 and C.

It finally consists in the particular construction and arrangement ofthe tiller proper, the braces, and the shackles, the whole combinationacting and performing the double function of a tiller to the rudder andof giving increased strength to the rudder in its weakest part-the crownor head.

The accompanying drawing is a side elevation of the safety-tiller.

The tiller is made of wrought-iron. There are three principal pieces,viz: The tiller proper, marked A in the drawing, and the two braces,marked, respectively, D and D. The tiller proper, A, consists of asquare or round shaft, which increases slightly in size toward the arms.At B the tiller proper branches into two arms, which clasp and aremortised into the head of the rudder, and are marked 0 and O, and arefirmly secured by the bolts E and E. These bolts serve the doublepurpose of attaching the safety-tiller to the rudder and of holding thebraces D and D. The heads of the bolts are marked a and b. The braces Dand D, which are attached to the head of the tiller by a bolt marked 0,are round bars of wrought-iron flattened out at the ends, and attachedby bolts E andE to the arms 0 and G. c and d are shackles. The length ofthe shaft A should be to the bolt E as three to one, varying with thesize of the rudder. The diameter should be three inches. Thesafety-tiller is operated by chains, which are attached to the shackles,marked 0 and d.

What I claim is- A safety-tiller consisting of the projecting post A,provided with the arms 0 and O, forged thereon or otherwise solidlyunited thereto, adapted to straddle the crown or head of the rudder andto be bolted thereto by bolts passing through the same, as set forth,with the side braces D and D and the shackles d and d, substantially asdescribed.

JAMES MORTON.

Witnesses:

HENRY S. DEWEY, J NO. W. HAMILTON.

